The Outpost

All things being equal, Peter Gothar’s Kafkaesque allegory (1994) periodically suggests a Hungarian variation on Tarkovsky’s Stalker, albeit one in which both comedy and sex play much more substantial roles. In the 1980s a divorced design engineer (Mari Nagy) learns she’s been “promoted” to run a remote branch office for the company that employs her; she leaves her hometown in good faith, knowing next to nothing about her new job or destination, for a journey through industrial devastation that gets progressively weirder and creepier. In some ways her successive male escorts prove even more sinister than the terrain. An engrossing head-scratcher that’s definitely worth checking out. Facets Multimedia Center, 1517 W. Fullerton, Saturday, July 19, 3:15 and 6:45, and Tuesday, July 22, 7:00, 773-281-4114. –Jonathan Rosenbaum

Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): film still.